A coepobation



W. R. 0RMES.'

TREAD'FOR sums AND THE' LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. I], 1911.

Patented Oct. 28, 1919.

in v #5 6 7- warm/5 ,5

' UNITED STATES PATENT curios.

WILLIAM R. ORMES, 0F WALTHAM, 1VIASSAOI-IUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, TO UNIVERSAL SAFETY TREAD COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

TREAD FOR. STAIRS AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 28, 1919.

Application filed. November 17, 1917. Serial No. 202,676. r

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM R. ORMES, of Waltham, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, a citizen of the United States, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Treads for Stairs and the like, of which the following is a specification.

Treads have been made of a base plate of hard metal combined with strips of an abrasive material, such as an abrasive composition or comparatively soft metal such as lead, the plate being perforated by suitable mechanism, the edges of the perforatlons being bent up to form flanges or points between which the abrasive material is held. The abrasive material is held in place by the flanges and at the perforations is more or less supported by the flooring or stair on which the tread is laid.

These treads have come into very universal use, more particularly for the purpose of resurfacing the floor or stair tread. Where, however, the foundation (i. 6., the flooring or stair) on which the tread is laid is worn away so as not to be flat and smooth so that it does not serve as a support for the abrasive material, this material is liable, especially if it is brittle, to be broken down through the opening in the plate, thus making the tread as a whole imperfect.

My invention is intended to overcome this fault, and it comprises a plate provided with flanges to hold the abrasive material and also what I term bridge-pieces located between opposing flanges and which act as a support for the abrasive material which hes between the flanges so that the abraslve material does not rely on the flooring or tread for its support.

My invention will be understood by reference to the drawings, in wh1ch Figure 1 shows a base plate, embodymg my invention, in plan;

Fig. 2 showing the completed device after the softer material has been put in place.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4c is a section on line H of Fig.2.

Fig. 5 is a section on line 55 of F1g. 1, and

Fig. 6 is a section on line 66 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a similar section of a tread comprising a sheet of abrasive composition.

The base plate will be understood from Figs..1, .3 and 5. It comprises essentially a plateA of metal of suitable thickness, preferably sheet metal, from which there have been punched or otherwise formed flanges a, the relative and preferred arrangement of which is shown in Figs. 3 and 5, that is, they are punched up from the under side of the base plate A, forming openings a Heretofore when flanges of this nature have been punched in this way the two opposing flanges have left a single opening between them, but in the present case each flange on being bent up leaves its own opening a so that what I have termed a bridgepiece or bridge a is left between them. These bridges serve as an under support for the abrasive material, which may be a strip B (see Fig. 6) or a sheet B (see Fig. 7). In Flg. 6 the strips B are shown held between the flanges a, while in Fig. 7 the flanges serve to hold the material in place against the plate A. In assembling the parts the abrasive material B is inserted in place and the flanges are preferably bent toward each other (see Fig. 6) so that they bite into the abrasive material and so hold it in place, and preferably the abrasive material is sufficient in size to provide a cap or wearing surface 6 which shall take the first wear of the tread and so prolong its life, and be more or less supported on the flanges. In Fig. 7 the abrasive material is shown in the form of a level sheet which is applied to the plate A in plastic form and thereafter hardened. In either case the abrasive material is supported from below by the bridge-pieces and will not tend to disintegrate, and in the tread shown in Fig. 7 it is supported along substantially its entire under surface.

Thus the bridge-piece a will help to sustain the non-slipping members B, B and prevent these members or portions thereof from being driven through and disappearing below the top edges of the flanges. Moreover, the driving of the wearing material into place in the construction of the tread of Fig. 6 tends to clench it under the bridgepiece a as well as at the corners of the open ings a lVhen putting the wearing surface into place the flanges a are preferably bent toward each other so as to hold the wearing surface from working upward out of place,

Irma

and when the abrasive member is sufficiently ]large the flanges bite into the abrasive mem- It is evident that What I have called the bridge-pieces may be otherwise constructed. They are as shown portions of the plate A, which have not been forced out of place during the bending out of the flanges, and lying between the flanges they form a support for the tread, such support, never having been heretofore provided to my knowledge in a tread of this class. By the term abrasive members I mean the members held by the flanges whether made of abrasive composition or metal appropriate'for the purpose.

What I claim as my invention is A safety or non-slipping tread comprising a sheet, metal plate and strips of non-slip]- ping material, said plate having pairs of flanges struck up to leave pairs of spaced openings between said flanges, the material between said openings affording bridge pieces serving to support said strips of nonslipping material held in place by said flanges.

WILLIAM R. ORMES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, 1). c. 

